Piano-action



No. 625,!28. Patented May 16, I899.

, M. STEINERT.

PIANO ACTION.

licntion filed Oct. 3, 1

A I X N Tu y l of the flange E before mentioned. A regulating-screw G,coacting with the outer face UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS STEIN ERT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

PIANO-ACTION.

$PEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,128, dated May 16,1899.

Application filed October a, 1898.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mortars STEINERT, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inPiano-Actions and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in

Figure 1, aview in side elevation of a pianoaction constructed inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a detached broken plan Viewthereof.

My invention relates to an improvement in actions for grand and squarepianos, the object being to confer upon the pianoforte some of thoserare qualities sacrificed with the abandonment of the clavichord and toenable performers of moderate skill to produce in perfection with thepianoforte those effects (particularly those of minute dynamicvariation) hitherto only within the reach of virtuosi of the highestrank, who are able to secure them by a training of the muscles of thehands and arms carried so far as to make the same in a sensesupplemental to the instrument rather than mere media of performance.

With these ends in view my invention consists in a piano-action havingcertain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will behereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown the key A is provided inthe usual manner with a fly B, secured in place at its rear end by ascrew B and made vertically adjustable by a screw B passing through itsforward end. In this fly I mount a jack C, which may be arrangedperpendicularly or slightly inclined forward or back, as may be founddesirable in adjusting the action. At its lower end the jack is providedwith an arm 0, which coacts with a regulating-screw D, mounted in thehorizontal portion of a flange E, extending forward from the lower edgeof the hammer-lever rail E. A regulating-screw F, horizontally mountedin the jack itself, coacts with the vertical portion Serial No. 692,521.(No model.)

which constitutes the lower face of the for- I ward end of a balancedhammer-lever H, which is horizontally arranged and mounted in a butt Hsecured to the upper end of the hammer-lever rail E before mentioned. A

hook I, mounted in the upper end 'of the jack, extends over the upperface of the forward end of the balanced hammer-lever H and, so to speak,articulates the jack with the balanced hammer-lever and insures therestoration of the hammer-lever to its normal position with the descentof the jack. This hook coacts directly with a strip J of felt orequivalent material, the operating-face H being also furnished with astrip of felt or equivalent material J. At its rear end the hammerleveris furnished with a balancing extension H in which I by preferencelocate one or more disk-like weights H of lead. The upper rear corner ofthe said balanced lever H is cut away on each side to produce a tongue Hin which I form a horizontal slot H, which is lined with a strip of feltor leather h. The said slot receives a horizontal pin K, mounted in thearms of a yoke K, formed at the rear end of the hammer-body K which ispivotally mounted in a butt L, secured to the horizontal hammer-rail M.A slit H forming a continuation of the'slot H extends into the body ofthe hammer-lever and permits the slot to be constricted or enlarged bymeans of a screw H A hammer-arm N, rigidly secured in the rear end ofthe hammer-body K carries the hammer-head N, which is furnished in theusual manner with a heavy cushion N of felt. The tail N of thehammer-head coacts with a back-check 0, carried by an inclined wire 0,mounted in the extreme rear end of the key A. When the hammer is atrest, the hammer-arm N is supported upon the hammer-rest rail P.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that my improved actionis composed not only of few parts, but that those parts are simple inthemselves and simply related in a continuous chain of articulated partsbetween the hammer and the key.

In the pianoforte as ordinarily constructed the jack coacts directlywith the hammer, which under the impulse communicated to the jack by thekey causes the hammer to leap freely into the air and deliver a sharpblow upon the string, after which thehammer falls back without restraintto its depressed position. Under the ordinary construction, therefore,no not-e can be produced unless the key is depressed with sufficientshock to effect the leaping of the key into the air with enough impulseto strike the string a blow, for the principle of construction. on whichthe ordinary piano-action is based does not permit the hammer to strikethe string as the result of a soft even downward pressure upon the key,but requires a blownot necessarily a hard blow, but at the least a blowof sufficient force to produce the shock required to cause the key toleap free into the air and strike the string. Pressure, more pressure,will not achieve this result, and cannot answer the purpose. Players ofgreat skill and refinement virtuosi and also others who may have anatural touch produce these necessary blows with such minute dynamicvariations with such perfect gageing of the blow to the force with whichthe hammer must strike the string -that the ob-. jectionable features ofthe ordinary piano as an instrument of percussion are for the time beingveiled. With the average performer, however, there is a constant failureto proportion the force of the blow uponthe key to the exact volume andkind of tone required, so that the player fails to reproduce his ownpersonal and sympathetic interpretation of the score before him. Eitherthe strings are struck too hard or, owing to the fear of striking toomuch of a blow and producing too loud a tone, not at all. The action ofthe ordinary piano as ordinarily played is therefore distinguished by aseries of blows more or less sharp of the hammers upon the strings andis a hard and mechanical action, the harshness of which can only beovercome by the trained and sensitive touch of a virtuoso. In myimproved piano-action, however, I employ a hammer-lever which isinterposed between the hammer and the jack and which is articulatedloosely, but'positively, with the hammer, on the one hand, and with thejack, on the other. Then no matter how softly the key is struck thehammer never fails to strike the string, and even a steady and uniformpressure upon the key will necessarily cause the hammer to lift andstrike the string. Nor after the hammer has struck the string does itdrop back into its normal position; but so long as the'key is depressedit holds a position slightly below the string, to which it may from thatelevated position be raised for repeating the stroke by depressing thekey farther, the jack at this time working upon the rear end of theobtuse-angled operating-face upon the lower face of the forward end ofthe hammer-lever. Inasmuch as under my action the hammer is not sentflying into I or even nearly depressed position.

the air by the depression of its key, the per former maintains over theinstrument a much more perfect control than he can command over aninstrument of the ordinary type, and for the same reason he is enabledto establish between himself and the instrument a rapport beforeunknown. At the same time my improved action enables the performer toproduce a forte as powerful as that of an ordinary piano and with morepurity of tone, while he may also produce pianissimo, crescendo, anddiminuendo effects impossible on the common instrument. Furthermore, hiscontrol of the hammer is so perfect that he may produce a beautifulsinging legato without effort and without training. As to staccatopassages they may also be produced with crispness, clearness, andbrilliancy.

Although my improved action is well adapu ed, as above stated, for forteand piano playing and for the execution of the most bril liant scherzopassages,it is particularly suited for playing accompaniments andmelodies and all work requiring softness of tone'without loss of purityor roundness. It permits an unskilled performer to produce a cantabile,which on the ordinary instrument would be far beyond his powers.

Of course if a key is released immediately after it has been depressedthe ensuing descent of the jack allows the hammer to at once return toits normal position of rest on the hammer-rest rail; but if the key isnot at once released after having been depressed the jack will be heldup under the rear por tion of the oblique operating-face II of thehammer-lever, whereby the hammer will be held up in a position close tothe string, which it may be again,thoughless powerfully, caused tostrike by a short pulsation, so to speak, of the key while the same isstill in its partially In other words, the hammer is not releaseddirectly after it has struck the string, as with an or dinarypiano-action, but only when the key has been allowed to return to itsnormally elevated position.

Of course in carrying out my invention some changes in the constructionherein shown and described may be made, and I would therefore have itunderstood that I do not limit myself to the exact form set forth, buthold myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairlyfall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure. by Letters Patent, is

1. In apiano-action, the combination with a key, of a jack mountedthereupon, a horizontally-arranged hammer-lever provided at its forwardend with an oblique operatingface with which the jack coacts, ahammerbody, and means for positively articulating the upper end of thejack with the forward end of the hammer-lever, and the rear end of the11am mer-lever with the hammer-body.

2. In a piano-action, the combination with a key thereof, 01": a jackmounted upon the said key, a horizontally-arranged hammerlever havingits forward end provided with an oblique operating-face with which thejack coacts, and its rear end furnished with a balancing extension, ahammer-body, and means for positively articulating the said hammerbodywith the rear end of the hammer-lever, and for positively articulatingthe forward end of the hammer-lever with the upper end of the jack whichsupports the hammer in position near its string after the hammer hasstruck the same, and until the key is released and allowed to return toits normal position.

3. In a piano-action, the combination with ing witnesses.

MORRIS STEINERTr Witnesses: GEORGE D. SEYMOUR, FRED. C. EARLE.

